Hearts In Eclipse
by Fritz Baugh
Summary: January 1998-Timeline Year 16. Tensions are rising in GBCentral, as conflict begins to build between Team Extreme, their two new members, and another familiar face...
1. Chapter 1

** Extreme Ghostbusters:  
Hearts In Eclipse  
Part One**  
By Fritz Baugh  
GBI Case File GBNY-1998-16/387

* * *

**January 1998  
Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline Year Sixteen**

* * *

He was nervous. No doubt about it.

He clutched the newspaper in his hand..."Back In the Saddle?" the headline read "Original Paranormal Investigators Officially Return; 'Extreme' Team to Stay On" was the subtitle. And pictured underneath it were four men in flight suits and bulky electronic packs. From left to right, a black man wearing aqua and red. A brown-haired man in brown and blue. A slightly chubby red-haired man in tan and brown. And looking vaguely uncomfortable at being photographed, a tall man with blond hair (going white at the back) and red eyeglasses, wearing light blue and pink.

He studied them for a moment. "Irony can be pretty ironic, huh, Doctor Spengler?' he muttered, his left hand reaching up to his own lightening hair.

_ An official press release today from **Ghostbusters Inc.** confirmed what many had suspected since the surprise appearance of original Ghostbusters **Peter Venkman** (43), **Ray Stantz** (38), and **Winston Zeddemore** (44): the official return of the threesome to the organization that Venkman, Stantz, and **Egon Spengler** (40) had formed almost fifteen years ago._

Speculation had run rampant after the threesome had returned to New York on November 21, and the Thanksgiving battle with a monster that Venkman described as "The Bermuda Triangle gone bad."

The release states that the four original Ghostbusters will mostly serve in an advisory capacity, and then goes on to answer questions concerning the team of teenagers Spengler assembled earlier this year, sometimes referred to as the "Extreme Ghostbusters". **Roland Jackson** (19), **Kylie Griffin, Eduardo Rivera**, and **Garrett Miller** (all 18) will be retained by the New York office, and will continue to handle the bulk of the field work.

"Hey, those kids are good." Venkman told reporters. "Not as good as me, of course, but when you got a monster trying to turn everyone into stone, the more particle throwers you have the better. They've saved this city a few times and it'd be rude to just throw them out on their butts--even if we wanted too." 

He skimmed the article...

_ The most sweeping announcement of the release was the full reactivation of the franchising body known as **Ghostbusters International**, with Venkman as CEO and the other original Ghostbusters serving as executive advisory board. "I'm trying to find our old accountant, that guy who was in the Keymaster Cologne adds back in the 80's--**Louis Tully**? He isn't returning our calls right now, but if he's reading this--hey, I'll pay you and everything this time." _

_With full benefits? Including dental?_ he smirked to himself. _I'm not letting him screw me out of dental this time..._

Further down the page was another photo, this one depicting a red haired woman of about the same age as the four men in the earlier picture, and with her four younger Ghostbusters--all in their late teens.

_Look at her..._ he couldn't help but remark to himself. _She's practically glowing. I never saw her look that...happy..._

_ Explaining the decision to keep the younger team on the payroll, Venkman said this: "Look, I still have interests in California to take care of. Ray and Winston have wives and families. And Egon's finally popped the question to Janine--like ten years later than he should have, but that ain't the point." _

"You look like someone with a problem on his mind..."

He looked up to see a tall man dressed in patchwork clothing. There was a vaguely unsavory smell wafting about. "Penny for yer thoughts, Mister?"

He knew that he should probably shoo the bum away and report him, as Mayor MacShayne's civic initiatives directed, but he didn't feel much need to deal with city officials right now. He dealt with legal matters enough as a matter of course--no sense making extra trouble for himself if he didn't need to.

"I'm not sure a penny wouldn't be overpaying--even though most predict that within twenty years the penny will be so devalued as to be even more effectively worthless than it is now, and be phased out. It would be simple for retail to round all prices to the nearest nickle or even dime, though since credit and debit cards will eventually replace hard currency maybe it won't matter."

The smelly man smiled. "I'm guessing a woman is involved."

He was struck speechless. "Two, actually..." he found himself admitting.

"Ah...methinks I see the problem..."

"No, no, it's not like that at all--one of them was my neighbor, and the other was, well, er, my ex...I'm thinking of changing jobs and one of them works there, and the other is married to the guy who'd be my boss and..."

"None of my business." the man reached into his pocket. "Might I interest you in a good luck charm? If there's two women involved, you might need it." He pulled out a purplish gem, almost opague, and even darker on one side. In fact, when he held it up, it resembled a purple moon being eclipsed. "Only five bucks..."

He actually found himself pondering it--and he made it a rule never to buy stuff from peddlers. Warranties were usually non-existant, for one thing.

_But then again..._ "Aw, why not?" he said out loud, and pulled out a five dollar bill. "I won't even ask for a reciept."

The shabby man handed him the gem and took the bill. "Pleasure doin' business with you...I hope it helps you with your problems."

"You know, my ex was into 'lucky charms' and stuff...maybe I'll tell her about you."

"You do that..."

* * *

** Ghostbusters Central **

* * *

Eduardo Rivera paced around the garage. He was trying to figure out why he was so on edge lately--it just wasn't like him.

It certainly wasn't the return to action of the other three original Ghostbusters--Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore. After a few tense moments early on, it had become clear to Eduardo's young comrades--the "Extreme" Ghostbusters, as Garrett Miller had unofficially dubbed them--that they weren't being pushed aside. The team's mentor--the fourth original Ghostbuster, Professor Egon Spengler--had taken the four of them aside after the recent bust of "Medusa" (or at least a reasonable facsimile) and had told them point blank: _"I hope this puts to rest any illogical talk about quitting."_

Maybe it was what happened right after that--the attack at the Opera House that had left Spengler hospitalized...no. Couldn't be. Spengler had survived the attack, the monstrous evil that had caused it was defeated, and in fact Egon's fiancee, Janine Melnitz, and Venkman were at the hospital checking him out to bring him home right now.

The phone rang. Being the only one in the garage, he answered it. "Ghostbusters. You got something goin' boo, we'll make it go boo-hoo..."

_"Have they returned yet?"_ an even female voice asked on the other end.

"This Jen?"

_"Miss Spengler to you, Mister Rivera."_

_Bitch._ "Yeah, whatever...listen, I thought Miz M made it clear she'd make your uncle call you as soon as he got back. Don't worry about it."

Eduardo heard several large crashing noises, and a loud male voice cussing a blue streak. _"(Sigh)...I have to go, Mister Rivera. Not a dull moment around here..."_ she muttered as the line cut off.

_And people think **we** have bad attitudes?_ Eduardo thought to himself. Was it the newly-formed satellite team--the Ghostbusters franchise calling itself Nightsquad that was putting him on edge? He certainly didn't find himself liking them very much--their leader, Bo Holbrook, was an obnoxious jerk. Bo and Garrett had especially gotten off on the wrong foot (to pardon the phrase) leading to an actual fistfight. And bad feeling on both sides.

Nah...Holbrook's crew of reprobates were safely miles away, in Brooklyn.

"A call?" a voice broke into his contemplation.

The speaker was a young man, albeit one five years older than himself. Dressed in the standard tan flight suit denoting a junior member of Ghostbuster New York, he had long dark hair and his intense eyes peered at Eduardo through a set of deceptively frail-looking eyeglasses. "BELMONT" was what the red lettering on his left chest patch read.

" 'Fraid not." Eduardo responded in clipped tones. "Just the Professor's niece callin' for like the fifth time." Eduardo found Vincent Belmont more than a little irritating. For one thing, he was wearing that uniform without putting up the slightest bit of argument. _Even Roland and Garrett had argued just a little, and it wasn't far off from what they were wearin' anyway_. Eduardo hated the thought of wearing a uniform--he'd seen the way it made certain people (Carlos) act like they were better than everyone else.

The firehouse's resident ghost--the green, potato-shaped Class Five that Ray Stantz had dubbed "Slimer" almost fifteen years before--drifted down the stairs, downing a bag of potato chips as he did.

Slimer stopped. He looked at the front door with interest.

"What is it, Boy?" Eduardo asked. "Too early for the Professor and Dr. V to be back..."

The phone started to ring again.

"You might answer that..." Vincent said flatly.

"Hey, look over at the name tag on the front of the desk--it says 'Janine Melnitz, Client Administrator', not 'Eduardo Rivera'..."

"No doubt...but Miss Melnitz is not here..." Vincent replied, a tinge of annoyance edging into his voice. He then picked up the phone with a deft move just as Eduardo, grumbling, was about to give in and do so. "Ghostbusters...how may we be of service to you?" Vincent grimaced. "You might want to turn down that...oh. I see."

Vincent nodded a few times as the caller filled him in. "Yes...I understand. We shall arrive shortly..."

After Vincent hung up the phone, he moved toward the alarm bell...

Eduardo intercepted him with a facetious grin, and pushed the button himself.

Within moments, the other four employees of Ghostbusters New York--Eduardo's comrades Roland Jackson, Kylie Griffin, and Garrett Miller, along with Gabriel Angelo Martin, who had been hired at the same time as Vincent--scrambled into the garage.

"We have a call in Queens." Vincent announced. "I'll give you the details on the way...Eduardo, if you would open the garage door?"

"Awful pushy, isn't he?" Garrett grumbled under his breath.

"Tell me about it..." Eduardo nodded, not seeming to be making much movement toward the door.

They still moved toward the ECTO-1; Roland stood there for a moment.

"Some problem, Mister Jackson?" Gabriel asked.

Roland looked at him. "Why would there be? Eddie, go open the garage door..." Eduardo smirked, and moved toward the door.

Kylie glared at Roland, then at Eduardo. "What is up with you two?"

"I don't know what you mean, Ky..." Eduardo replied nonchalantly, pushing the door open with maybe just a conspicuous amount of force.

There was a thud and a tenor voice shouting "OW!!"

"Great, Eddie...you plastered a pedestrian..." Garrett remarked as he rolled into the back of the ECTO-1.

Eduardo, Kylie, and Vincent moved outside. The man whom the door hit was short, with a wiry frame, wearing matching brown slacks and a sport coat. He had a wide face and short brown hair that was going white below the ear line (_A lot like the Professor's_ Kylie couldn't help but notice) "Hello, um, I'm sorry but I seem to have lost my glasses..."

Slimer squealed excitedly, and bear-hugged the little man.

"Well, Slimer seems happy to see him..." Eduardo deadpanned.

"Would these be your spectacles, Sir?" Vincent asked, reaching down to grab a pair of wide-lensed eyeglasses sporting a piece of tape on the temple.

"Heel, Slimer, heel..." Kylie called. "I think our pet likes you..."

"Heh heh..." the little man laughed uncomfortably. "It's funny, when I first worked here Dr. Venkman told me he was some kind of pest that moved in during their first shutdown and told me if I took care of it because they were busy dealing with the river of slime and those criminals from the future he'd be really grateful. Ray didn't think it was real funny when he found out later after I had to explain why there was fried chicken in one of the ghost traps..."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Poindexter..." Eduardo waved his hand in front of the guy to shut him up.

Vincent and Kylie exchanged a look of mutual comprehension. For some reason, that really pissed Eduardo off.

"You must be Louis Tully..." Kylie said. "You were the Ghostbusters accountant and legal advisor..."

"Certified Public Accountant since 1979." Louis nodded. "I got my legal degree in night school--New York City Community College class of 1988..."

"It's...interesting to meet you at last, Mister Tully. I've heard...interesting things about you..." Vincent said, shaking Louis's hand. "Dr. Vincent Belmont, one of the newest hires of Ghostbusters Inc."

"Louis Tully?" Eduardo asked incredulously. "That Louis Tully? The Rick Moranis dude, the one who..."

"Yes, _that_ Louis Tully, Eddie..." Kylie hissed. "I'm Kylie Griffin and this is Eduardo Rivera."

"I was born in 1979!" Eduardo blurted out.

Louis shook both their hands. "Heh...I guess I'm amazed you heard anything about me at all...I can't imagine Doctor Spengler or Janine really wanting to talk about me..."

"It was kind of like getting Cheesy-Poofs away from Slimer..." Kylie laughed, causing Vincent to laugh too. Eduardo found himself once again getting pissed off.

There was a loud honking of the ECTO-1's horn. "Belmont, drag your ass in here!!" Gabriel shouted out the window.

"My apologies, Mister Tully--we have a call to go on. We shall have to continue this later..."

"Hey, no problem..." Louis replied, waving as they sprinted to the idling ECTO-1. "I know my way around here...be careful, and don't forget to make sure your client initials all the release forms and the damage waiver!!"

The ECTO-1's engine gunned into action, and the refitted Cadillac Miller Meteor rolled into the streets, sirens and alert lights blazing.

* * *

** Saint Eligis Hospital **

* * *

"We'll just need your signatures here and here, Doctor Spengler..." the nurse said, putting another piece of paper under Egon Spengler's nose.

"If I am diagnosed with carpal tunnel any time within the next six months, I shall have to consider this an exacerbating factor..." Egon replied, cocking an eyebrow. The redhaired woman holding onto his left arm chuckled.

"Careful, Spengs, that sounded like a joke..." Peter Venkman deadpanned.

"Morphine." Egon replied.

"Is that what made you tell that joke, or are you asking for some?" Janine Melnitz teased as Egon signed the paperwork.

"Perhaps both..."

Venkman rolled his eyes and donned his oft-present sunglasses--an affectation he'd picked up by living in Hollywood the last six years. "Let's get you out of here before the nurses sign you up for the comedy club."

* * *

"Nice car, Doctor Venkman..." Janine admitted. She was sitting in the back seat with Egon as Venkman drove.

"A rental, of course--my Beemer's still back in LA." Venkman replied. "But hey, like I keep sayin', the Hollywood thing's really paid off for me..."

"I remember you surprising Dana with that huge check at the wedding." Janine nodded. "It was when Rick Rosen gave him his first commission." Janine explained to Egon.

"Before long I went freelance...started my own agency. Now I'm rollin' in it..." Venkman smirked. "But not enough to get Murray to budge..."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what in the world would you do a third movie about? The stuff at Stonehenge?"

"Eh, Aykroyd really liked that story about that guy Siffler trying to push off his extra undead into New York...especially since the TV and comic guys never got around to that one..."

"If you let Ramis write me the same way as in the last one, there will be trouble." Janine said acidly.

"Erm...perhaps we should change the subject." Egon intervened. "So how have the newest members of the new team working out?"

Janine shook her head. "I dunno yet, Egon...Vincent's pretty bright, and Gabriel can give Eddie a run for his money on smartass remarks, but...y'know, I don't think the old new guys and the new new guys are quite getting along yet. Eddie and Vincent especially..."

"Oh?" Venkman asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Spooky have an eye for Goth Chicks, maybe?"

"Spooky?" Egon asked.

"Belmont. He's a lot like you were at that age--so just like I called you 'Spengs' and 'Ziggy' all those years, I gotta give him a wierd nickname to lighten him up."

"Eddie, Kylie and Vince...I've been too busy with other things I didn't even think of that..." Janine mused.

"Might be good for them." Venkman smirked. "The sexual tension between Torgo and Kylie is so thick you'd need a lightsaber to cut it. Maybe a little competition will make something happen...it works, you know. I remember that beautiful fit Egon threw that time you showed up with Paul Smart..."

Egon sat quietly, tuning out the banter. There was something tugging at the edge of his memory...the mention of Stonehenge especially, the strange incident six and a half years before that first brought them into contact with Vincent Belmont...

* * *

** Crazy Gyro's Electronic Shop **

* * *

They heard the noise even before they had opened the doors of the ECTO-1. Even before they'd arrived. It was louder, even, than the car's engine...

_ Loud, profane rhyming lyrics about the performer performing a grotesque sex act crossing the lines of bestiality and necrophelia _

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS?" Vincent shouted at the man in the vest standing outside the shop. The doors were closed, and the noise still forced them to scream to be heard.

"SOMETHING'S POSESSED MY ASSISTANT!!" the owner, a gawky man with a mop of unruly red hair and an eccentric outfit shouted back. 'HE WENT NUTS, TURNED ON THIS AWFUL NOISE, AND DROVE ME OUT OF THE SHOP!!"

"AWFUL NOISE?" Eduardo replied. "THIS IS 'I GOT A BONER FOR A DEAD BABY ANIMAL'. COMEBACK SONG FROM MC WINK AND THE 2CREW RUN DOA HUMPERS..."

"'COMEBACK'?" Roland asked, afraid of the answer.

"WENT TO PRISON FOR THREATENING HIS MANAGER WITH A GLOCK..."

"OH, GOOD...THIS SHOULD BE QUITE A HIT FOR HIM THEN. IT'S SO TUNEFUL..." Vincent put as much droll sarcasm as he could into a statement he had to shout at full volume.

'THIS IS PAINFUL OUT HERE!" Garrett pointed out, not caring how obvious it was. 'HOW THE F-- ARE WE GONNA GET IN THERE TO DEAL WITH IT?"

Gabriel Martin stepped forward, a wry smile on his face. 'LEAVE THAT TO ME!!"

He gestured, casting a spell in the area of his specialty, the name magic known as 'Hekau"...

(Insert several scenes of silent violence here)

"SAID IT WASN'T THAT..." Eduardo was shouting, as the Hekau of Silence wore off. "Said that wasn't so big a deal."

Martin rolled his eyes as Kylie reattached the trap to her torso harness. "I learned that trick in college. Helped a lot when the room next door wouldn't shut off his stereo..." Gabriel explained, pulling out a cigarette

Vincent and Roland were cradling the formerly posessed assistant. "I...I just don't know what came over me...Mr. Gyro was yelling at me about not getting the speaker tuned just right and I was thinking how I'd like to show him how a speaker worked..."

"Anything...unusual happen to you recently?" Garrett asked.

"Well, I did buy this on my lunch break." the assistant admitted sheepishly, pulling something out of his pocket. A purple gem, darker on one side.

Kylie pulled out her PKE meter. "It's hotter than Garrett's Five Alarm Chili."

"Where did you say you got this again?" Vincent asked.

"Some guy in the park...a smelly bum dressed like a Crazy Quilt..." the assistant told them.

"We better take a look in the park." Roland said firmly.

* * *

"...Didn't think someone who travels as much as she does would have that much junk to haul around..." Winston Zeddemore was saying to Ray Stantz as he opened the door to Ghostbusters Central.

Ray chuckled as he emptied a bag of donuts that didn't even hit the floor before being eaten by Slimer. "I thought that same thing...and so did Barney Lupin when he helped us move into the house back out West."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't werewolves supposed to have superhuman strength?"

"Well, yeah, but he couldn't exaclty 'wolf out' around the neighbors, right? I..."

Ray's voice trailed off as he and Winston realized there was someone else in the firehouse besides Slimer.

"Ray! Winston! Long time no see it's been like, what, nearly six years since Dr. Venkman got married and then..." Louis was babbling as he came up and gave them some friendly hugs.

Ray and Winston gave each other the same look of _Uh oh_...

"...But anyway I arrived a little bit ago and the new kids were here and they called about twenty minutes ago saying they're going to go check on a lead or two in the park on the case they're working on so they may not be back until dinner time and not to worry..."

"Nice to see you too, Louis. Is, er, Peter back yet?" Ray asked, gently cutting off Louis's meandering explaination.

"No not yet. I know he was in the paper a few weeks ago but I didn't know if he was going to actually be here or not because of all his activity in Los Angeles I still talk to Dana every once in a while and she kept me informed about how they were doing and all and..."

"He was picking up Egon from the hospital." Winston explained, also intentionally short circuiting the dissertation. "We got held up a little later than we thought moving Ray's stuff in..."

"Aw no problem I..." this time Louis was cut off by the door opening once more.

"Excuse me, Mister Ghostbusters, there's a giant monkey climbing the Empire State Building and I was hoping to get something done about it..."

"About time you got back, Pete." Winston quipped back. "Need help getting the Professor back in?"

"I am quite fine, thank you..." Egon replied "If you'll recall, the doctors said walking some would be good for me..."

"Just don't over do it--or I'll have Ray and Winston tie you to a chair." Janine said with mock sternness.

"Oooh, Spengs, that sounds like a promise. No wonder..." Venkman stopped. "Well, what do we have here? Mister Keymaster Cologne? I take it you got my message then..."

Behind Venkman's back, as he went to shake Louis's hand, Egon and Janine stiffened visibly. They exchanged a furtive glance.

"Well, I saw the article in the paper and figured even though the pay isn't the best it might be fun to try again y'know? Maybe you might even let me drive the ECTO-1 this time one time, maybe?"

Venkman laughed and slapped the smaller man on the back. "Step into my office, Mister Tully, and let me tell you exactly what I have in mind."

The other four waved pleasantly and sashayed up the stairs, casting quick glances behind them.

Venkman noticed this. _What? They thought I'd strangle him just because he was madly in love with my wife fifteen years ago and had a fling with my secretary ten years ago? Give me a break here. I'm a reasonable man_

* * *

"I...I don't suppose anybody told Peter about...erm..." Ray's voice trailed off, realizing there might be one other person in the room who might not know what he was about to say.

"Egon already knows, Ray." Janine said.

"As for Peter, well..." Egon coughed. "Once he decided to hire Louis back we knew we had to tell him, but with all of the commotion over the last few weeks..."

Winston looked back toward the staircase. "He can't know. He'd be throwing the furniture if he knew."

* * *

"I have a vision, Louis...a vision that never quite came true the first two times around because I was a younger, more virile and studly man and thought I could do it all myself. But it's different now." Venkman said to Louis.

"When I first persuaded Ray and Egon to found this company, I told them the franchise rights alone would make us rich beyond our wildest dreams. Well, it didn't quite turn out that way, did it? I mean, there was a try or two early on, before the lawsuits got us all gummed up in red tape...then the second time nobody bought the idea of anybody but us being Ghostbusters."

"Well, Louis, time has passed. People kind of forgot about us...depressing, but it's true. But with that comes an opportunity--maybe this time people will buy the idea of Ghostbusters who aren't named Stantz, or Spengler, or Zeddemore, or...or...or even (shudder) Venkman. There's two new teams out there--Roland's guys here, and Bo Holbrook's Nightsquad gang in Brooklyn."

Venkman pulled out a piece of posterboard with a logo on it, reading "GHOSTBUSTERS INTERNATIONAL"

"I want to make Ghostbusters the international franchise operation I always dreamed of it being...and to do that I need a man to handle the money and the day to day decisions. I'm lousy with all that financial stuff...Ray and Egon are scientists, not accountants...and all of us have or are going to have spouses and families to keep us busy...you did hear Egon and Janine were finally getting married, right?"

"Er...yeah..." Louis said simply, with a note of forlorn that Venkman lost in his enthusiasm.

Venkman pulled Louis close, and made sweeping gestures with his hand as he spoke. "So who else than a lawyer, accountant, and guy with a little bit of experience at media relations? Picture it with me here, Louis...a letterhead. On the letterhead is the GBI logo...right below the logo is the phrase 'Peter C. Venkman, PhD, Chief Executive Officer'...and then, right below that...'Louis B. Tully, CPA, Chief Financial Officer'...ooh yeah...catchy, huh?"

"Uh...yeah..."

"So...what do you think?"

"You are gonna give me dental this time, right?"

"I'll have a contract faxed to you by tomorrow evening."

"Sounds great..." Louis admitted, finding himself perking up a little. _This was easier than I thought...between Dana and Janine I thought he'd hate my guts...maybe we all really can let bygones be bygones_

* * *

Eduardo grumbled as he prodded another bush with his proton thrower. Kylie was right beside him, studying her PKE meter.

The "Model 2.1" of the famous device, it used the same shell as the "Model 2" Professor Spengler had started using in 1983, after the Gozer case. The display was a little different, and the swing arms had been replaced with two prongs that emitted an electric effect in relation to the PK trace in the vicinity. The arms were currently dark.

"Chica, there's nothin' here...we been goin' over this place for an hour, and nothin'..."

Kylie looked at her watch. "It's almost five anyway, and that's when Vincent said to meet back at ECTO-1. He'll probably agree."

"Oh, yeah, and we always gotta do what Vincent says, don't we? I mean, it's not like we've ever caught any ghosts or golems or Sumerian disease spirits or leprechans or dragons or trolls or anything ever before. How did we ever get along without him?"

"What is your problem, Eddie?" Kylie replied, a little brusquely. " He got his first PhD at age 18. He's attended Miskatonic University, the best place to learn arcane lore anywhere on the planet--he knows what he's doing."

"Oh yeah...that's the funny thing, isn't it? The way your skirt blows up for any guy with letters after his name...first the Professor, then Dr. Stantz, now this joker...best of all, he doesn't have a Mrs. or a Mrs. To Be hangin' around..."

She practically hissed at him. "I don't wear a skirt. And it's not like it's any of your business anyway."

_I hit a nerve_ Eduardo smirked to himself as they headed back to the car.

The other four were already there. "We searched the entire area the clerk mentioned and nothing...I didn't even get any PKE readings..." Vincent summarized.

"Nothing on our end either." Roland added. "Kylie?" She shook her head.

"Then I suggest we head back to headquarters. We might be able to find out something about this gem..." Vincent said, holding up the plastic jar they'd put it in.

"Sounds good to me, Belmont..." Gabriel nodded, opening the door of the ECTO-1. Vincent and Kylie began to get back in the car also.

Garrett looked at Roland. "What do _you_ think?"

Roland waited a few seconds before finally responding. "I agree with Dr. Belmont's assessment. We need to get back to HQ--maybe the Professor or Doctor Stantz know something about it."

"Whatever you say, Jacko..." Eduardo replied brightly, starting to unbuckle his proton pack.

* * *

Venkman smirked to himself. It had definitely been a good day. Egon was out of the hospital. Louis was going to run his moneymaking franchise operation. For the first time since Egon had been attacked, he thought things were going all right.

He looked at the stack of papers on his desk. "Aw, here it is..." he said out loud, pulling up a newspaper featuring a large picture of himself and the other three original Ghostbusters. "Back In The Saddle" he muttered to himself _Wow? December 16? I really have gotten behind in my reading..._

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

Vincent Belmont and Gabriel Angelo Martin are characters from Ghostbusters Arcane Division; thanks to Vincent Belmont for allowing me to use them. Some references are made to Dr. Belmont's story "Mito Conundrum", available at

Thanks to Bo Holbrook and Jen Spengler of Ghostbusters: Nightsquad for allowing their use in this story.

* * *

#3387/#3497-101305t  
059


	2. Chapter 2

** Extreme Ghostbusters:  
Hearts In Eclipse  
Part Two**  
By Fritz Baugh  
GBI Case File GBNY-1998-16/387

* * *

**January 1998  
Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline Year Sixteen**

* * *

Ray was scratching his head as he studied the plans sitting before him on the table. "I dunno about all of this...I mean, I still don't understand why you did all this. I mean, what was wrong with the original system?"

"Nothing." Egon replied. What Ray was looking at was a set of plans for the Mark 2 Proton Pack, which Egon and Roland had first built a scant few months before. "But I knew we needed a configuration that could generate a more focused beam to work against Achira...plus I had some concerns about stretching the available supply of fuel for the system."

"I see that..." Ray nodded. "But it would seem to me it'd run through the plasma cores a lot quicker than the old system did. It's basic science--a smaller battery will recharge quicker, but lose it's charge faster and since it'd have to be recharged more often the individual cells would burn out quicker."

"They don't have a half life of anywhere near five thousand years, to be certain." Egon agreed.

"I do like the pistol system you made for Kylie, though." Winston chimed in. "I remember you sayin' you had ideas along those lines during our visit to Romania back in 91..."

"It was at her suggestion I implemented it." Egon noted.

"You guys and your toys..." Janine rolled her eyes. "Though I think I may throttle Eddie the next time he refers to it as the 'girl gun'..."

Louis hovered near the edge of the scene, working up the nerve to break in and tell them he was leaving. He gulped hard, and decided _Oh, heck, just do it..."I'm leaving now guys goodbye"...how hard could that be. Heck, they probably won't even notice anyway...maybe I should just leave...yeah, the doorway's right over..._

"Louis!" Venkman appeared, blocking his way, grinning brightly with the grin like the Cheshire Cat Louis had seen more than once. More than enough to know that Venkman was up to something. "You can't leave yet...we have so much to talk about still!"

"We do?"

Venkman put his arm around Louis and led him to the table where the other four were sitting. "Well, well, well...here we are...the long-time staff of Ghostbusters Inc, the six of us, once again one big happy family."

Ray shot up an eyebrow. "We're still not throwing Slimer in the Containment Unit, Peter."

"Raymond, Little Brother of my Heart, you wound me dearly."

"Um, Doctor Venkman, it's getting near dinner time and I really think I should..."

"Sit. Down. Mister Tully." Venkman said, grin still in place.

"Peter, have you been in Egon's mushrooms again?" Winston asked.

"Mister Zeddemore, it is only because you spent years hanging out with me that you are not more well known for your comedic wit." Venkman replied. "What's wrong with wanting to spend a little time with my dearest friends in the world? I mean, we missed so much the last few years. Sure we've been doing some catching up, but still...we're talking six years. That's a long time."

"That better not be a seltzer bottle behind your back." Egon said with some gentle sternness. He'd gotten quite good at reading Peter Venkman's moods over the years; there was something here that seemed out of place. He wasn't sure, though, having six years of rust at the art...

"Oh, please, Professor, I haven't pulled that juvenile gag since...oh, wait, I did it last Halloween. You should've seen the way some kid dressed like the Phantom Power Ranger jumped." Venkman pulled a newspaper from behind his back "Just the paper I've been saving since December..."

"Yep...one big happy family..." Venkman said beamingly. "I mean, look at this paper--they got my good side, didn't they? Though Spengs, well, you look like you were about to barf up your lunch...ah well, I know, you were worried about the new kids, afraid we were gonna take over and push'em out..."

"And look here...the new kids and Miss Janine. All smiles here, huh?" He flipped through the pages. "And they even spell my name right--they better, I'm famous after all...aw, look at this... they even talk about what we were doing all those years...'In the intervening years, Venkman moved to Los Angeles and married the Ghostbusters' first client, celloist Dana Barrett. He became an agent, first for Columbia, then founded his own small agency (actress Catharine Bartholomew being probably the most known of his discoveries).'" Venkman laughed "And of course now she's makin' time with Jon Dennison. But you read the tabloids, you probably knew that already.

Egon, Janine, Ray, and Winston all shared one flash of horrified realization.

"Peter..."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!!" Venkman cut Egon off. "Let me finish. We gotta fact check this stuff, make sure I don't have to write a nasty letter... 'Stantz taught engineering at Stanford University for a couple of years before a laboratory accident led to his dismissal from that institution--until he returned to Ghostbusters he sold used autos for Perpetual Motors in Colorado.'...sounds good. Ray, how does that wife of yours afford all that stuff anyway? Does that line of work really pay that well?"

"Well, er..."

Venkman continued "'Zeddemore had obtained a commercial pilot's license and was flying for a small commutor line in Montana.' Heh, I know that sister of yours had to be glad to see you more often. Thank goodness Ray didn't take that job--it still amazes me he gets sick in small planes when he flew ECTO-2 like a monkey on crack...and Melnitz...hm..."

_Oh shit..._ Janine thought to herself, feeling ready to vomit. _We forgot all about that stupid f--ing article..._

" 'Melnitz entered what her sister Doris Irwin called a "stupid rebound" marriage to Tully that ended in separation in 1995 and finalized divorce earlier this year. '" Venkman put down the paper and blinked a few times.

"Peter..."

"Doctor Venkman..."

"Listen..."

"SHUT THE F-- UP!!" Venkman shouted, throwing the paper forcefully down to the table. "NOW SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Louis suddenly wanted to vanish from the face of the Earth.

Egon got up. "Peter, calm down...you're overreacting..."

"_You_ already knew about this?!" Venkman roared. "Even _YOU_ knew about this already?! Just when the f-- did this start?! You were both at my f--ing wedding--was this already going on then?!"

"Well, er..." Ray started to reply, turning bright red.

"And you, Winston, you knew about this too?!" Venkman shouted. "Well, this is just f--ing great..."

"This is exactly _why_ we didn't say anything!!" Janine shouted back. "We knew you'd throw a fit!! I was angry about the breakup with Egon...angry about the Ghostbusters...and though I didn't really realize it at the time I was emotionally reset to about the time I had just broken it off with Louis--I still felt comfortable with him, and..well, yeah, things happened. But I knew you woudn't see it that way. You'd take it like it was some sort of personal insult--which is exactly what's happening!!"

"HOW CAN I NOT?!" Venkman screamed. "I was sitting there telling you 'get help' and 'don't get involved with that ass tick' again, and the whole time you were already playing footsie with the little turd, and nobody...none of my..._friends_..." he said the word like he was a child talking about brussel sprouts "...Saw fit to tell me!!"

"And YOU!!" he grabbed Louis by the lapel. "You just couldn't wait, could you? Swoop in like a f--ing vulture of love!! Is that why you came back, Asshole? Hoping they'll screw up again?!" His green eyes narrowed menacingly. "Or because maybe you're hoping _I'll_ f-- up again?!"

"That's enough." Winston snarled, grabbing Venkman and forcing him to let Louis go.

"I think maybe you better go, Louis." Janine said firmly.

Louis didn't even respond. He scampered out of Ghostbusters Central as fast as his legs could take him.

"And you're sitting there all right with all of this?!" Venkman turned to Egon. "You want to marry this woman, even after THIS?!"

Egon inhaled, fixing Venkman in his most intense stare. "I first found out about it when the marriage license was filed. I had her name flagged in my system. If it makes you feel any better, Peter, I then proceeded to destroy five hundred dollars of lab equipment in my anger."

He went over to his fiancee. "I would think if anyone could understand it'd be you, Peter--Louis Tully is no more relevant to me, the woman I love, and our relationship than Andre Wallance is to you, Dana, and your marriage. Less, in fact."

Venkman snorted. "I was just about to ask if there's anything else you're all keeping from Uncle Petey..."

"Look for what it's worth, I'm sorry." Janine said. "I'm sorry about all of it. Sorry about doing it, sorry I didn't tell you...but like Egon said, it's history. This time for sure--because I _know_ now. Know where I really belong and where I don't."

Venkman's face softened some, finally.

"We're all sorry about that, Pete." Winston said. "We didn't want to upset you...especially not the way things were then. You'd just lost your oldest friend over one stupid fight--we didn't want to start another one."

"Let's not let this come between us anymore, Peter." Ray said, putting his hand on Venkman's shoulder. "We're a team again, a family again at last..."

"I would think if I can deal with this and move on, you certainly can." Egon said, extending his hand to Venkman.

"All right, all right..." Venkman finally exhaled. "But I...I'm gonna go home. I need to talk to Dana, I need to get away from all of you and process this." Venkman headed for the doorway. "If I need anything I'll call..."

Janine hugged Egon as the four contemplated their friend's exit. "Actually, it went better than I thought it would." Winston deadpanned.

* * *

The ECTO-1 pulled into Ghostbusters Central. The younger Ghostbusters were surprised to see Peter Venkman in the garage--gathering his coat to leave.

"Doctor Venkman? I take it the Professor's doing all right then?" Roland asked.

"Yeah..." Venkman nodded, quite distracted. He exhaled deeply, shook his head, and muttered something they didn't catch.

"Dr. V?" Eduardo asked.

Venkman looked at him, then over at Kylie. "For the love of whatever God you want to worship, you two get your act together. I hate sounding like a selfish ass, but I really do NOT want to go through this bullshit again..."

They were all stunned silent for a few seconds, as Venkman turned to leave.

Vincent tried to step in his way. ""Ummm...care to share your musings with the rest of the class, Dr. Venkman?" Vincent said with a touch of slightly nervous, but playful sarcasm.

"I'm goin' home, Spooky." Venkman replied to Belmont's question, gently pushing him out of his way. "If you really feel like knowin' ask Egon...or Janine..."

"But..."

"Good. Night." Venkman said with an uncharacteristically forceful tone in his voice as he slammed to door shut behind him.

"Yikes..." Vincent muttered after the reverberation of the door had ceased, and the firehouse was again quiet.

"Man..." Gabriel said as he lit a cigarette, "you are SO getting fired tomorrow."

No one laughed.

* * *

"...I'm not sure I blame him, really." Vincent finally said, once the younger Ghostbusters had been brought up to speed about the evening's theatrics.

"Niether do I." Winston agreed. "But as mad as he is tonight, imagine how mad he would've been six years ago, when it wasn't all over and done with..."

"Now what do you think he meant when he said 'don't put me through this bullshit again' to you two?" Gabriel smirked. It provoked a nasty look from Kylie.

"Why don't you use that little trick from the fix-it shop on your mouth?" Eduardo sneered.

"Maybe you'd better..." Martin started to reply, before Egon cleared his throat loudly.

"And about the fix-it shop job..." Roland started to say.

"The assistant was posessed." Vincent broke in. "It would appear that an item on his person was the catalyst..." With that, he pulled the glass jar holding the purple gem out of his front pocket.

"Hm..." Egon said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Wow..." Ray whistled.

Winston's brow furrowed. For some reason, the sight of the gem made him uneasy. He looked at his watch, and realized he was overdue to call Kaila--he excused himself and went to the phone in the bedroom.

"It was radiating a valence 4 when we pulled it off the assistant, though now it appears to be dormant." Roland noted.

"You're going to say 'fascinating'. I just know it." Janine teased Egon.

"Well...er...yes" he blushed slightly as Janine kissed him on the cheek. She went downstairs to wait for the order from West Pier Pizza.

"Possibly it takes some specific trigger." Ray theorized. "An action or invocation that the assistant did, maybe even accidentally..."

"The assistant said he bought it from some bum in the park. We scoured the place for two hours and..."

"Found nothing." Vincent interrupted Roland. "The only other thing we gleaned is the assistant was being yelled at by the manager, so either something the manager said or did or the assistant's response might have been the trigger..."

"I was about to get to that. _Doctor_ Belmont..."

Vincent scowled as he looked at Roland. "I was offering a simple scientific observation, Jackson, based on studies of past posession cases from the Miskatonic library..."

"And I was offering an observation based on several months of field experience, including more than one possession case."

"I realize..."

"Do you?!" Roland asked harshly, an edge of anger obvious in his voice.

"Roland, what in the heck is wrong you?" Kylie asked.

"You ask me, maybe nothing..." Garrett replied.

"What's wrong, Kylie? You really wanna know what's 'wrong'?" Roland said a little louder and angrier.

"Oh, do tell...this oughtta be rich." Vincent said through clenched teeth. "You have some problem with my abilities?"

"Oh, I don't have any problem with your abilities, Belmont. What I have a problem with is your whole attitude..."

"Roland..." Kylie said, starting to feel very uncomfortable with where this was going.

"Egon..." Ray nudged his old friend and pointed. None of the younger Ghostbusters noticed

"Let him speak, Chica. I think he's about to say what all of us but maybe you have been thinkin'" Eduardo interjected, drawing a nod from Garrett.

"My attitude?" Vincent asked, looking just a little surprised.

"Yeah. Your whole 'I was educated at the finest institution of paranormal knowledge in the world while you're still attending a third rate community college' attitude."

"I never..."

"Oh yes you have." Garrett interjected.

"Here's a news flash for you, Vincent." Eduardo said. "We were here before you were. We were the ones who busted Achira, and the Grundle, and the Vathek. We know what we're doing. But not according to you, it seems. What have YOU done in your illustrious carreer?"

"What have I done?" Vincent spat, calm no longer having hold on him. His words came like ice, and even the temperature of the room seemed to drop, "I may not have been a Ghostbuster before now, but let me tell you that not a night goes by that I'm not haunted by my experiences, MR. Rivera...it has left its scars..."

"Oh, yes, let's TALK about your experiences, shall we?" Roland scoffed, "You know what? I've been doing some digging as of late, and I've come across some disturbing stuff...concerning your file..."

Roland glared at Belmont, who had gone white in the face.

"I found a newspaper article...the one everyone dismissed as a hoax, and an Urban Legend...does the town of Silent Hill bring up anything?"

"Damn you to hell..." Vincent scowled.

Something seethed within Vincent. "How DARE you," he thought to himself, "how DARE you bring that little girl into this...how DARE you dig up wounds of the soul...I would strike you down where you stand...I could burn you to a cinder...I could twist your very body...I could wither you to uselessness...KILL you with but a word..."

...

...then Vincent realized what it was he was contemplating, and felt funny, as if his own rage were not his own.

Vincent's white knuckles relaxed, and Vincent breathed in softly. The chill of the room vanished, and a calm fell over Vincent.

"I don't think you understand..." Vincent replied. "I never intended to act otherwise. But I am a wizard, these things are my business..."

"That doesn't make you any better than us." Roland bit back. "I respect your knowledge, but I'm certainly not in awe of it--or of you. This is our team, not yours."

"Is that what this is really about?" Vincent rolled his eyes. "Didn't the Professor make it clear that Gabriel and I're here to help the team, not take it over..."

"No. It hasn't been so clear." Garrett broke in "You boss us around like we're the new guys, not the ones who've been doing this job. He's not the kind of guy to say it directly, but Jacko here's the guy who's called most of the shots in the field." Garrett elbowed Roland. "If we're anybody's team, we're his. Not yours."

"Well, er..." Roland said, a little embarrassed. Deep down he totally agreed with Garrett, but still felt uncomfortable saying it--it was too much like arrogance, in his eyes.

"Do I...really come off like that?" Vincent didn't look at Gabriel--Gabriel was his old friend, and he knew Martin would be on his side. He was half surprised Gabe hadn't tried to punch Eduardo or Garrett in the mouth already. He looked at Kylie.

Kylie felt torn for a few moments. On the one hand, Vincent continued to...for lack of a better term, cause this weird fascination in her. On the other... Eddie and the others..."Well...sometimes...yeah, a little bit. I don't think they're totally right...I think they're misunderstanding sometimes, but I see...I see why they're sayin' that...Professor, what do you think?"

They realized Egon, Ray, and Gabriel weren't even paying attention. Egon's meter was in hand. "Could you possibly go back to arguing?" Egon said absentmindedly. "It was provoking a fascinating reaction in the gem..."

"What?" Vincent asked, both he and Roland moving toward the counter the others were studying.

"Look at that..." Ray whistled. "As soon as it broke off the glow completely faded. You should've seen it a minute ago when Roland and Vincent were screaming at each other..."

"Psychomagnetheric reaction?" Vincent and Roland said simutaneously.

"Okay, now that was creepy." Garrett commented.

"Agreed." seconded Gabriel.

"That's what my reading indicate." Egon nodded. "The PKE readings started to build as you were arguing--very reminiscant of the psychomagnetheric ectoplasm from 1988..."

"The mood slime..." Ray nodded. "Huh...too bad they didn't get it back an hour ago...THAT would've caused a reaction..."

"I think this requires some advanced study." Egon mused. "Vincent, Kylie, I want you two here with Ray to start looking through the database. Roland, after dinner take Gabriel, Eduardo, and Garrett back to the park to see if you can find the man the victim allegedly purchased it from." He went back to his meter.

Vincent and Roland looked at each other. "At the end of the day, we know who's team this really is..." Belmont commented. Roland nodded in agreement.

* * *

** Apartment of Louis Tully **

* * *

His head was pounding...like it wanted to explode...

He saw his answering machine light was blinking...he jabbed the button...

"_Uncle Louis, it's Lawrence...could you loan me twenty bucks till Friday? I'm a little short this week and..._"

He hit the skip button brusquely. _Leeching parasite asshole nephew of mine...had more toys than God as a kid, and he's still a spoiled little shithead..._

"_Hey, it's Sherm. You know, your cousin? Anyway, I was thinking maybe I come over this weekend and go bowling..._"

"Bowling?!" Louis howled, ripping the answering machine off the coffee table and hurling it into the wall. "My life is a f--ing joke and he wants to go bowling?!"

Louis collapsed onto the couch, head swimming with agony..._How could I have been so stupid? They didn't want me back...they all wanted to laugh at me one more time...rub it all in that they have the kind of lives I can only dream about...I just wanted to find someone...and kept losing them to Ghostbusters. I just wanted somebody to love me--was that so wrong?!_

I hate them!! I hate them all!! 

And then, he found himself drowning in a sea of rage. It was purple.

* * *

** Apartment of Peter Venkman **

* * *

It hadn't always been easy keeping up with the payments on this place...and more than once over the six years he'd been living in Los Angeles he'd thought of selling it...but right now, Peter Venkman was glad he'd kept the flat he'd lived in during the Ghostbusters' first hiatus.

_"Venkman residence..."_ Dana's voice answered. He wanted to be soothed by it, but he was still angry. And he needed to know...

"How long were you keeping this all from me?" he said simply.

_"Peter? What are you talking about? Kept what from you?"_

"Janine and Tully."

Dana exhaled heavily, and was quiet a good thirty seconds. _"I'm sorry...none of us wanted to keep things from you, but..."_

"I really should be furious..." Venkman paused, and sat down on the couch. "But maybe it was just as well...Janine was right. I would've gone mental. Spent my wedding night getting felt up by some amorous dude named Big Louie instead of practicing Jess's conception..."

Dana chuckled, and the laughter was infectious--Venkman chuckled back, already feeling better.

"I guess I have to look at it in perspective. I can only think how mad I would've been back then..." he continued, unwittingly echoing a point Winston had made after he'd left. "But Spengs and Redzilla are finally engaged--they're gonna be married. I think about something Spengs said--that Louis is even less relevant to them than Andre is to us...and he's right."

_"It's good that you keep that in mind."_ Dana answered. _"Please, I want you to do something for me--don't blame Louis for everything. He might not be blameless--yeah, he did move in awful quick once they broke up--but it wasn't his fault that Egon and Janine had a lot of issues. He didn't know about Egon when he was brought into the situation. Blame her for pulling him in; blame Egon for making her that crazy and desperate, but leave Louis out of it as much as you can."_

Venkman nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see it. Dana's always been his voice of sanity.

_"I agree with you that it was a situation he never should've gotten in the middle of. But now he's finally out of it. Don't try to drag him back into it."_

"You're right." Venkman finally replied. "I promise--I'll call him right now, apologize for tearing him a new one...I really do think he's the best person to run GBI...maybe hire him a secretary of his own and everything."

Dana laughed. _"Now you're thinking rationally again, Dr. Venkman."_

"Tell Oscar and Jess hi for me--I think with this mess with Egon in the hospital dying down I'll make it home for a while next week. Dennison's been on me about the _Conquerer Duck_ contracts again; I really think he's about ready to bolt to Disney. Anyway...I love you. See you soon."

After Dana returned the parting and hung up, he called Louis's apartment. _Busy signal? I thought he said he had an answering machine..._

* * *

** Central Park **

* * *

"Just what I wanted to spend a lovely January evening doing..." Eduardo grumbled. "Looking through the crummy park for the second time in one day..."

"We got a job to do, Eddie..." Roland replied. He called Gabriel on his walkie talkie. "You got anything yet, Gabe?"

_"Fraid not."_ Martin's voice replied. _"I just talked to Mister Zeddemore and Garrett--they haven't had any luck either. Wonder whether the Professor and the rest at HQ are doing any better..."_

Eduardo tried not to fill with bile at the thought of Vincent and Kylie looking over the books together _"Oh, Vincent, the way you heft those ancient tomes makes me so hot..." "Kylie, I must say that, like these books, you are nicely stacked..."_ He shook his head angrily. _Oh, c'mon, now I'm makin' stuff up..._

"Eddie? You okay?"

"I'm fine." Eduardo growled. "Let's just find this bum so we can blast him and go home..."

* * *

** Ghostbusters Central **

* * *

Several empty West Pier Pizza boxes sat nearby as Ray, Vincent, and Kylie kept looking through the various sources of occult lore. Ray was on the computer, while _Tobin's Sprit Guide_ and other books sat opened.

Egon was nearby, studying the gem stone.

Janine came into the room and gathered up the empty boxes (there were no leftovers, of course--Slimer made sure of that) "Not exactly the way I hoped to be spending your first night back, Egon..." she chuckled.

If there was any sign of how far he'd come over the years, he smirked noticably in response. "You know the doctors said not to overexert..."

"Maybe by your birthday..." Kylie quipped.

"My birthday's in October..." Janine replied. "We'll be married by then--maybe _your_ birthday would be more realistic..."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And when is your birthday Kylie?"

"February 12."

"Aquarius..." Vincent mused. "The strange thing is, I somehow knew that already..." Belmont shook his head and went back to his book.

Egon looked over quickly, studying Vincent and Kylie for a moment. _Aquarius? Why didn't it dawn on me before?_ He quickly scrawled a note reading "vb kg 6-91" before going back to the gemstone.

"Holy crap!" Ray suddenly exclaimed. "I think I got it..." he went over to Egon and showed him the book. "There's the design, right? And read the rest of it..."

Egon studied the page for a minute (he was, among other things, a gifted speed reader) "We had better call Winston and the others."

"Oh, yeah." Ray nodded, getting a little excited in that way that always worried Venkman. "Winston will _definitely_ be interested in this..."

* * *

"Ibandi?" Winston replied incredulously from the steering wheel of the ECTO-1. "You're sayin' that some moldy Tangalli god is behind this?"

_"Well, if it's the same guy, yeah."_ Ray's voice replied. _"The gem design matches one referred to in Ibandi legends as 'Anthal-Noge', which translates to the 'Lord of Gloom'. The gemstones are supposedly shards of the evil one, and they seduce the unwitting into becoming his servants by stoking their anger and revenge fantasies. 'By placing the heart in eclipse, the gloom grows stronger'..."_

"This guy know the Undying One then?" Winston asked. He knew that the gem had made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, now he was beginning to understand why.

_"Yeah. Anthal was the brother and servant of 'Driano-Noge, He Who Never Dies'...just as the Undying One was scattered into the Moaning Stones, the essence of the Lord of Gloom was shattered into the 'gloom gems'...the 'hearts in eclipse'..."_

_"The motifs all match."_ Vincent added. _"The design of the gem, the fact that the assistant at the fix-it shop being angry before he was posessed. While he was posessed, the gem had affixed itself to his forehead...again, matching the accounts of being 'marked by the gloom'."_

"I think what all this means--it's more important than ever we find this peddler. He may have no idea what he's selling...but what if he does? And what if he had more than one?"

"You catch all that Eddie?" Garrett asked.

_"Yeah, yeah...(sigh)...gonna be a long night, huh?"_

* * *

"Vincent, Kylie, and Ray will be joining you shortly." Egon explained. "I'll keep working with the gem...if I can find a way to key into it's particular psychomagnetheric harmonic, we might be able to track additional gems without requiring them to be activated first..."

Ray came into the room, zipping up his tan colored flight suit. Other than the brown on his collar and cuffs, his uniform was all but indistinguishable from Vincent's. "You think we should call Peter?"

"I think it would be best to give him time to cool down." Egon answered.

Ray nodded as he strapped on his utility belt. "That's what I was thinking...but it never hurts to double-check."

Janine held out the key to her yellow Volkswagen. "You know the drill--you scratch my car, Eric becomes assured he's an only child..."

Ray chuckled as he took the key.

Janine leaned over and kissed Egon on the cheek. "Feel bad you're not going out with them?"

"A little...but I trust any and all of them to do the job right."

* * *

Vincent grunted as he placed a proton pack in the trunk of the yellow Volkswagen. "I thought Doctor Stantz worked at a car lot before coming back to New York...why in the world is he driving Ms. Melnitz's car?"

"He said he sold it before he moved back--no way it'd make the trip from Colorado, and the didn't want to pay the freight to ship it here." Kylie replied.

Vincent suddenly turned to face the firehouse door. His mystic senses had come into focus with a warning.

The door burst open, angry violet energy playing around it.

"Kylie--behind me!! Ego Parma Mag--" he started to cast a defense spell, hands beginning to form the gestures called for in the formulaic spell...

...A tendril of violet energy slammed into him before he could finish. As Vincent struck the wall behind him, he felt the sting of embarrassment, having let something like that get the drop on him

The man that stepped into the doorway was seven feet tall, with muscles that would give the Incredible Hulk adequacy issues; stranger still, he was wearing some grotesque parody of the Ghostbuster flight suit cast in lime green, with purple trim on it's collar and cuffs.

Most frightning of all, Kylie realized, on his forehead was a glowing crystal. Identical to the one in the forehead of the posessed fix-it shop assistant earlier in the day.

"Get out of my way." the man growled in a deep voice.

* * *

Ray, Egon, and Janine heard the sound of the door slamming open. Cries of anguish first from Vincent, then from Kylie.

They didn't have time to react before the muscular intruder burst into the room from the fire pole shaft, damaging it on the way.

"Get behind me!!" Ray said, before he realized he hadn't donned a proton pack.

"You can't stop me, Stantz. Noone can stop me!!" he bull charged Ray, grabbed him, and hurled him into wall at the far side of the room. Ray bounced off of it and slumped into the couch, stunned and dazed.

"I don't know who you are, Beefbag, but I came through the Brooklyn school system. If you think I'm afraid of..." Janine's threat tapered off. She and Egon noticed it at once...the colors of the monsterman's Ghostbuster uniform had no meaning to Vincent and Kylie, but the betrothed had seen it before. And the nametage reading "TULLY" only sealed the deal.

"Louis?!" they both said at once, incredulously.

"Aw...you remember..." the giant grinned, adopting something that neither could help think of as a grotesque parody of Venkman's Cheshire grin. He grabbed her roughly. "Bet I'd be man enough now, wouldn't I? Wouldn't be faking it this time?"

He then hurled her with an intentionally casual and dismissive air onto the pool table in the center of the room.

"Janine!" Egon called.

For a second, the monster that used to be Louis hesitated...even propelled by the mystic crystal, he withered beneath the glare that Egon Spengler gave him. "If you're hurt her..."

"Oh, I know I'm not as good at that as you are, Spengler..." Louis snarled in reply, and grabbed him.

"He...just got out of the hospital...don't..." Janine managed to call through the pain weakly.

"I'm not going to hurt him. Not yet." Louis spat back. "I want him and Venkman both--tell that smug bastard I'll be waiting for him where it all began, and if he doesn't get there quick...well, I won't promise anything..."

"Louis, this isn't..." Egon started to say, planning to try and talk him out of his anger as best he could. He hadn't hurt anybody badly yet; maybe...

But before he could go further, a tap from the transformed accountant turned the world into darkness...

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

Vincent Belmont and Gabriel Angelo Martin are characters from Ghostbusters Arcane Division; thanks to Vincent Belmont for allowing me to use them, and for some revisions to his characters' dialog.

* * *

#3387/#3498-110705m  
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	3. Chapter 3

** Extreme Ghostbusters:  
Hearts In Eclipse  
Part Three**  
By Fritz Baugh  
GBI Case File GBNY-1998-16/387

* * *

**January 1998  
Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline Year Sixteen**

* * *

550 Central Park West had been built in the Roaring Twenties, when all looked bright for the United States in the afterglow of the victory in the World War; it was also known as the Shandor Building after it's designer, architect Ivo Shandor.

"Where it all began..." Peter Venkman muttered to himself from the passenger seat of the ECTO-1.

"I'd say that was a no brainer..." Ray nodded in joyless agreement as the vehicle came to a stop under Winston Zeddemore's deft handling.

The three men and younger Ghostbuster Garrett Miller exited the vehicle (Garrett rolling out the back ramp on his wheel chair), and Ray began to pass out proton packs. All were in full Ghostbuster uniform--Venkman in his brown and green/blue, Winston in his aqua and red, Ray in his tan and brown, and Garrett in the monochrome tan of a junior member of Ghostbusters New York.

A blue Ford Mustang pulled up next. Roland Jackson, Gabriel Martin, and Vincent Belmont were all wearing the same tan flight suits as Garrett.

The last vehicle skidded to an angry stop, the doors of the yellow Volkswagen emitting the last two junior members of GBNY--Kylie Griffin and Eduardo Rivera, niether wearing a uniform--and the driver of the vehicle.

Janine Melnitz looked at the building, eyes on fire. "The little prick wanted a showdown, he's gonna get a showdown." she snarled. Her uniform matched those of the other older Ghostbusters, with only the orange of the collar and cuffs keeping it from being an exact match of the blue and pink uniform currently missing from the line-up.

They all looked up at the building...it was now deserted, covered in tendrils of violet energy that matched the power signature of the energies thrown by the posessed fix-it shop employee earlier in the day, and by the transmogrified Louis Tully only an hour before.

"What's this crappy old dump gotta do with any of this?" Eduardo grumbled as he buckled on his pack. He disdained uniform, and was wearing a vest, blue jeans, and cowboy boots.

"You never study..." Kylie rolled her eyes at him. Her outfit resembled football padding, with the large, round Mark 2 ghost trap attached to its back.

"It's what Louis said when he grabbed Egon--'where it all began'..." Janine said, jabbing off the safety of her neutrona wand.

"This was the building Shandor designed to attract energy to summon Gozer the Gozarian..." Ray explained.

"It was all in the movie, Eduardo." Gabe pointed out.

"I never saw it. Plus Murray doesn't look like Dr. V anyway..."

Ray shook his head and continued "Louis was living here in 1983, when that all happened...so was Dana Barrett."

"So this really is where it all began, at least for him. If Dana hadn't been haunted by Zuul, she never would've gone to us..." Venkman continued. "If that hadn't happened she never would've met me. And Louis never would've met..."

"I ain't listenin' to that lecture again right now, Venkman." Janine interrupted angrily.

"The point is..." Winston stepped in, hoping to prevent the discomfort from getting out of control "This is the place he associates with starting all his trouble. So yeah, this is where it 'all began'..."

"So what are the chances Poindexter is going to just let us walk in?" Garrett asked. "Or roll, as the case may be."

Winston wistfully wished he'd had the time to try and find Dalia, the shaman who'd helped him awaken the spirit of the Ibandi chieftain Shima Buku. _That Tangalli mojo might be a real help right about now...especially since Louis is apparently mixed up with the Ibandi "Lord of Gloom"..._

Ray pulled out a PKE meter. "I'm almost afraid to turn it on..."

"Then don't" Vincent suggested. "If you're wondering whether the Professor is here, I am indeed detecting his essence. It's not being masked, and I doubt even with the Master of Gloom's power Tully's sophisticated enough in the ways of magic to generate a false signal." There was a noticable look of just a tinge of relief in the crowd. "But this barrier is powerful."

"Power this!!" Eduardo snarled, getting annoyed once more at Vincent "showing off", and blasted the tendrils with his proton gun.

A nearby tendril shot toward him.

"Eddie!!" Kylie called, and shoved him out of the way of the tendril.

"Yep. Not the warmest of welcomes." Garrett deadpanned.

* * *

For the second time in too short an interval, Egon Spengler awakened to pain...there was a dull, unpleasant throb to the wounds he'd recieved back at Christmastime, compounded with a dull ache at the back of his head.

Within seconds, his computerlike brain rebooted the last events before he'd gone unconscious...the apearance of the transmogrified Louis Tully..._Were Janine and the others all right? Did he..._

He opened one eye just enough to see...the giant Louis--who looked like he should be shouting "LOUIS SMASH!!"--was there, staring at the staircase.

Egon processed several thoughts at once _This was his apartment at Central Park West, where he lived before he was posessed by Vinz Clortho...and the gem in his head matches the one Kylie and the others found earlier today. However he got it, he's clearly in the spell of Anthal-Noge, the "revenge spirit"..."By placing the heart in eclipse, the gloom grows stronger"_

"Louis..." Egon finally spoke. "What are you trying to do?"

The monsterous Louis turned to face him, the purple gem sparking with violet energy. "Awake, huh, Spengler? Just in time for the show..."

"Show?" Egon tried to keep his voice as calm, but firm, as possible. "Louis, I know there are some unresolved issues, but..."

"Oh, shut the f-- up!!" Louis snarled, and a violet tendril wrapped itself around Egon's mouth. "You don't have the slightest idea why I'm doing this, because you don't have one ounce of emotion in your scrawny body."

"But then again, that's what they all go for, isn't it? Some emotionally dead twerp or a smirking dick or some workaholic f--tard who'll crap all over them to further his career.." he grabbed a lamp and powderized it. "While the guys who'd treat a woman like a queen if given a chance get ignored..."

"But now the nerd gets his revenge...you assholes aren't going to get away with this anymore...I'll even let you watch what's happening..." Louis grinned, and with a wave of his hand a shimmering image appeared.

Egon could see the Ghostbusters--Roland's team, the two new recruits, his old comrades, _and Janine...thank goodness she's all right_--splitting into groups.

"And even if they get in, they'll find some nasty surprises waiting for them." Louis gloated. "The Lord of Gloom has given me the power of a god!!"

* * *

Within moments, the three smaller groups took up positions. "Vincent?" Venkman asked.

"Almost ready, Doctor Venkman..."

Janine's eyes narrowed. _I swear, if he's hurt one hair on Egon's head..._

"Hey, er...be careful, alright?" Eduardo finally said to Kylie sheepishly.

"Yeah..." she responded simply, Venkman's words of earlier coming back to her _"For the love of whatever God you want to worship, you two get your act together. I hate sounding like a selfish ass, but I really do NOT want to go through this bullshit again..." But what about Vincent? Why do I keep getting this wierd vibe around him?_

Vincent cleared his throat. "This spell will take care of the barrier. When you feel the wind kick up, fire at the barrier..."

Vincent leaned back gracefully, and began moving his arms around, his hands almost weaving the spell in a literal sense

"What's Mr. Wizard doing, Tai Chi or somethin?" Eduardo in a disapproving voice

"He's busy Eddie...don't interrupt..." Kylie rolled her eyes.

_I swear she comes to his defense one more time..._ Eduardo thought to himself with a scowl

Vincent's voice called out, almost echoing...

"Per usum meum, Ego evocare venti fortunate abjicere magicus illus prohibere transitum nostrum..."

Vincent's voice became louder, and more firm, as what seemed to be the sound of disembodied voices hummed a single high note, as the the air around them seemed to crackle...the wind began to pick up...

"...Hic Magicus inflectere ad sussare ex mundanus ventus!!"

Vincent's right arm extended into the air as he shouted the final words, the wind about him whipping his long hair wildly about.

"On three..." Roland called.

"THREE!!" they all called in unison, proton fire hitting the Shandor Building's entrance from three different directions.

"Now!!" Janine yelled, as the combined attack and the mystic whammy Belmont was throwing caused the field surrounding the entrance to warp and buckle. She, Venkman, and Kylie fired, and a hole appeared.

"Quarterback sneak!!" Venkman whooped, as the assembled group jumped into the hole

No sooner had they entered, than the doors slammed shut, and more energy tendrils appeared inside.

"No rest for the weary..." Venkman quipped. "I'm getting too old for this shit..."

_About time you got inside..._ Louis Tully's voice called out of the ether. _You figured it out even without his help. I'm impressed...well, I think you know the way from here, don't you?_

"Aw, no..." Venkman realized, looking up. He wasn't enjoying the thought of climbing all those stairs again...

"What does he mean by that?" Janine asked.

Venkman couldn't resist. "We go up..."

"Problem." Garrett pointed out.

"More than one..." Gabe called out, pointing. "Look!!"

A glowing form had appeared...a sneering teenage boy, neverthless dressed in shorts and a t-shirt more befitting a ten year-old. He had short hair and large glasses, and looked very much like a younger version of Louis.

Venkman, Ray, and Winston looked at each other. "Oh crap...is that who I think it is?" Ray asked out loud.

Janine nodded, having seen the person in question more recently than they had. "Yeah...Louis's spoiled brat nephew, Lawrence."

"Anybody want to play?!" Lawrence said, with a maniacal gleam in his eye, and a throng of giant toys appeared: several of the hit toys of the late Eighties and early Nineties. Power Guy, Murray the Mantis, Shredder from the Ninja Turtles, and the original Green Power Ranger. "About time Uncle Louis got me some good toys..."

The toys attacked. The giant Power Guy figure screamed "By The Power of Greyskull!!" and chopped at Winston with his sword.

"I think he's mixing up references..." Ray pointed out. "Greyskull was from He-man..."

"I don't think he cares, Ray!!" Venkman shouted, shooting at the Green Ranger, who shouted a battle cry and dodged easily.

"How in the hell did Lawrence get here?" Janine snarled, barely missing being tagged by Murray the Mantis.

"It's not really him..." Vincent surmised. "It's a projection of the gloom gem...a projection of Louis's _image_ of Lawrence..."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the red haired bitch..." Lawrence sneered. "You got mad if I tried to call you 'Aunt Janine', even though you were...well, I get the last laugh now, and you're going to call _me_ Uncle!!"

"Your jokes are just as dumbass as the real Lawrence's" Janine retorted.

"I think..." Vincent mused. "THIS should help out

Vincent spread his hands outward and away from his body, reminding Venkman of the conductor of an orchestra.

"Falsus memoriae quod detinare...Super Ventis ex nudiustertius..."

A purplish and lightly sparkling mist coalesced out of thin air around them; time seemed to slow to a crawl

"...Tu perfunctio tuum promisum..."

Vincent shouted the final words as he swung his arms and torso in a circular fashion, seemingly twisting the very room they stood in. "Apage!! Et facere non injuriam!!"

The toys and Lawrence all froze. "Fire!!" Vincent shouted. "I can't hold this long!!"

Within seconds, the frozen Lawrence and assembled toys were blasted--they vanished into purple haze when hit with enough proton energy.

Vincent staggered, and Winston grabbed the younger man's shoulder. "What's wrong, Belmont?"

"The spells I have cast within moments of each other have taken more from me than I had anticipated..." Vincent explained. "And I have not eaten today..."

Garrett rolled his eyes and smirked "Gotta love a guy whose mind's in his stomach..."

"When a wizard casts a spell, it is not unlike doing any physically exerting activity..." Vincent added

Ray nodded knowingly. "Even wizards get tired."

Vincent looked rueful "I was a fool not to bring my satchel with me...even more of a fool to not bring something to eat..." He looked almost contrite. "Sorry, but it looks like I may have to sit this one out..."

Venkman nodded. "We have some important issues that won't wait for Spooky to get his game face on."

Vincent staggered. "Between the barrier and that...I'm not sure how much I have left..."

"I can't go up the stairs anyway." Garrett admitted ruefully. "When Vince gets his mojo working, we'll blast back out of here...if we don't hear from you in like, an hour, we'll call those assholes in Brooklyn..."

"I think that might be best." Ray nodded. "Be careful."

"You too." Vincent replied.

As Vincent watched everyone leave, Garrett pulled a Zagnut bar out of his pocket and tossed it at Belmont's head.

Vincent deftly snatched it out of midair, and turned to look at his "attacker"

"Nice catch, Bruce Lee..." Garrett chuckled. "I was saving that for after this mess, but eat up if you need a boost...the sooner you kick start that voodoo again, the sooner we can catch up to them."

For what seemed to be the first time...Vincent smiled at Garrett.

* * *

"Well, well, well...they took out the first challenge quicker than I thought..." Louis admitted. "I didn't know about that hippie guy's power...but he's out of the game now, it looks like...and they'll find the next obstacle even more fun..."

* * *

"Well, Peter..." Ray grunted on the tenth floor. "Decided which floor you want to throw up on yet?"

"I'm leaning toward just going ahead and getting it done early..." Venkman replied. "Lean a little closer..."

"Well, well well...looks like we gots company..." a snide Brooklyn voice called out of the darkness.

"Oh dear...and such dirty ones, too..." a pinched, prissy voice joined it.

"You know what this needs--a little cleaning!!" A glowing teenage boy jumped out of the darkness, and blasted Ray with a giant super soaker. He was dressed in baggy clothes, and a backward ballcap sat on top of his head.

"Victor?!" Janine shouted, realizing the attacker was a grotesque parody of her nephew, Victor Irwin.

"Hey Aunt Jay...sorry I gots to kill you all and stuff...but I've seen the light. Uncle Lou is a pretty cool guy, and you're a stupid bitch for dumpin' him!!" Victor sneered, and fired at her.

"You all right, Ray?" Winston asked.

"Yeah..." Ray responded. "It was just water..."

Then the room was filled with a horrid, shrieking tone that made all of them wince in pain.

"Huh..." the other attacker said indignantly as he floated into view. He was a taller man dressed in dandified clothes, and carrying a violin. He stopped to pull out a small bottle and spray it in his nose.

"Who the f-- is that gaywad?" Eduardo grumbled.

"Andre..." Venkman replied.

"Andre?" Roland asked, still not understanding.

"Andre Wallance. Oscar's biological father--Dana's ex. He was a violinist in the orchestra..."

Victor started shooting again, and Andre played another disharmonic number on his violin.

"I don't think they like yer music, 'Dre..." Victor gloated.

"Well, Venkman _is_ a Philistine, and has Philistine friends..." Andre chortled. "I could've understood Dana dumping me for a fine man like Louis, but a Neanderthal like that? Oh please..." He played another riff.

"That. Is Enough. Of That!!" Venkman snarled, pulling himself up. "You're not the real Andre--Dana didn't leave him for anybody. That shithead left _her_!!"

He fired, hitting the ghost Andre.

"And the real Victor would've been caught dead before calling Louis 'Uncle'...'Doo Doo Head' was his preferred nickname!!" Janine snarled, hitting the ghost Victor.

"I only got the one trap..." Kylie pointed out. "What if we need to use it on Tully?"

"We worry about that then!!" Ray shouted.

"Let me, Doctor Stantz." Gabe said, holstering his particle thrower. "I need to remind you from time to time Belmont isn't the only one who can fling a spell..."

From out of his uniform, Gabe produced an Ankh medallion. He began to trace a pattern in the air and chanted...

"Binew Ne Iretey A'Nen Sedjer Kher Kem-Mew!!"

His voice seemed to overlap itself as the room darkened to almost pitch blackness, drowning out all of the Ghostbusters' shocked gasps. The two figures writhed and shouted angrily as they melted into purple smoke...the room began to lighten again as the smoke retreated into the shadows with the rest of the darkness.

"We'd better get moving," Gabe says as he started sprinkling a white powder around the walls of the hallway, "That was just a temporary dispersal spell, and won't last forever..."

But before anyone could move, a loud feral growl filled the room.

"What the..." Roland started to say

Out of one of the apartments nearby burst a four-legged creature resembling the unholy spawn of a Doberman pinscher and a gargoyle. It plowed Gabe hard, knocking him ten feet into an unconscious heap.

"A terror dog?!" Ray shouted incredulously.

"Why not?" Venkman sneered. "This whole stupid gauntlet is Tully's issues come to life..."

Another terror dog appeared, knocking over Winston and Eduardo with one quick charge.

"Eddie!!" Kylie cried.

_You know what to do..._ a loud, deep voice reverberated through the ether.

One of the dogs--the one with the smaller horns--suddenly emitted tendrils from it's back. The tendrils wrapped around Janine, dragging her onto the creature's back and holding her fast.

"Don't fire!!" Ray shouted at Roland and Venkman. "You'll hit her!!"

The other dog--the one with the larger horns--snarled and it's face contorted into a horrific grin as it eyed Venkman. A set of tendrils shot out of it's back, grabbing the man.

Roland got off one good shot, severing one of the tendrils, but there were too many of them. Venkman was dragged into place on the terror dog's back similarly to Janine.

"I can't reach my f--ing thrower..." Venkman grumbled. "Bad dog!! Bad bad dog!!" he said much more loudly and forcefully.

"This is why I've always been more of a bird person..." Janine quipped bitterly as she tried to wriggle against the bonds with little success.

"Peter!! Janine!!" Ray called, trying to run after the terror dogs. But within moments they were out of eyesight and earshot. "Shit..."

"You all right, Eddie?" Kylie was helping Eduardo up.

"Remind me that if I get a dog, nothin' bigger than a Chihuahua..." Eduardo said as he shook his throbbing head.

"What about you, Mister Zeddemore?" Roland helped Winston up.

"I've been better..." Winston replied.

"I'm all right too, thanks for asking." Gabe interjected.

"We were getting to you..." Roland commented.

Gabe was grumbling as he brushed himself off. "Damnit...I've hunted wild game in the darkest parts of Africa...and some ugly pooch gets the damn drop on me...GOD, how humiliating..."

"Don't worry...no one saw much..." Winston reassured him.

Gabe sighed, then a look of abject horror crossed his face. He siezed Winston's arm. "...oooo...uuuhhhhh...don't tell Belmont!"

Winston looked at Gabe quizzically "Sure, man...not a word"

Winston went over to Ray. "I really doubt it was coincidence they grabbed Janine and Peter."

Ray nodded. "It's going just the way he wants it..."

"The question is..." Roland asked rhetorically. "Just what _does_ he intend to do to them all?"

* * *

After sprinting briskly up several more flights of stairs, the terror dogs disappated, dumping Peter Venkman and Janine Melnitz painfully on the cold floors.

"You all right?" Venkman asked, rubbing his throbbing backside, not looking forward to scrambling to his feet with a sixty pound pack on his back. _I mean it...I've been thirty-nine four years in a row...I really am getting too old for this shit..._

"Yeah..." she grunted, actually getting up faster than he did. "Where are we?"

"This looks familiar." his eyes narrowed. "We're close..."

"Are you my Mommy?" a thin voice called out of the darkness.

Two proton throwers were quickly armed.

A girl stepped out of the ether. Probably four years old, with cascading rings of brown hair and large eyeglasses, with a bulky sweater, a pleated skirt, and Mary Janes over drooping white socks. "I'm looking for my Mommy..." she stared with her large brown eyes. "You look like her...but she went away...left me and Daddy all alone..."

"Look, I'm sorry, but..." Janine started to say.

Venkman put a hand on her shoulder. "And who is your Daddy, Sweetheart?"

The girl smiled. "His name's Louis Tully...and he's the greatest Daddy in the world!"

Janine inhaled. "Louis is your father?"

"What's the matter, Dear?" a rumbling voice, carrying only the faintest echo of Louis Tully's meek tones, chided her. "Too late to be jealous now..."

The monsterous figure stepped out of the shadows, a twisted parody of Venkman's cheshire grin on his face.

"Son of a..." Janine snarled, pointing the blaster.

A tendril appeared out of the ether, interposing the bound and gagged Egon Spengler between Louis and his would-be attacker.

"It'd be real shame if you blasted him, wouldn't it?" Louis gloated.

"Let him go." she snarled.

"Please, let's not fight in front of the child..." Louis said, walking over to the little girl, who looked up and beamed at him. "Isn't she precious? Tell her your name, Princess..."

"Lana Florence Tully." the girl said proudly.

"None of this is real, is it Louis?" Janine said. "Lawrence, Victor, Andre...this girl."

Louis looked at her "Lana could've been real...you could've made her real."

Janine didn't respond.

"The first time you ever came on to me you said that 'Motherhood was a natural instinct' for you...but that was a lie, wasn't it?" Louis continued. "We tried a little...at first...then you started to pull away from me. Motherhood wasn't such a natural thing after all, was it?"

"This is the child I always wanted..." the massive form looked mournful...almost, vaguely, like the Louis they knew. "The child you never let me have..."

"It...it wouldn't have been right." Janine finally responded, looking hard at the girl. Lana certainly had Louis's bearing, and slightly nerdy fashion sense. She realized she really shouldn't be surprised that Louis had fantasized about what their child might look like. She'd done it more than once herself...but every time, the vision--a boy, always a boy--would have a very un-Tully-like tallness and lankiness to his build. An un-Tully-like firmness to his jawline. An extremely un-Tully-ish squiggly tail at the back of his red hair...

"Well, of course not..." Louis sneered in response. "And it's just as well, because it would've been heartbreaking for Lana to have a lying bitch like you for a Mom..."

"You suck." the girl said angrily, sticking out her tongue.

"Because it's all about this shithead, isn't it?' Louis gestured at Egon. "I bet you won't have any problems with having his hellish drop, would you?"

"Louis..." she finally said. "Listen to me..."

"I'm tired of listening to you and your lies!!" Louis shouted. "Like the lie about how you loved me! Like the lie about for better or for worse! Like the lie about how you'd gotten over..." his face contorted in disgust as he said the name "Egon Spengler."

She exhaled deeply, and shut off the neutrona blaster. Janine unbuckled the proton pack and let it fall to the floor.

"Um..." Venkman said.

Though he wasn't able to say anything, Egon's eyes went wide.

"Louis...I don't know how to say this any other way than how I already have..." she walked closer to Louis, Lana, and Egon. "But I'll say it again: I'm sorry. I'm sorry Egon and I had a lot of issues...sorry that I let it all get to me, and brought you into this. It's not your fault--none of this is. It's Egon's, and it's mine...mine for being stupid, mine for being lonely and desperate, mine for getting too flattered by all your well-meaning gestures. Mine for lying about my feeling, not only to you, but to myself, for a long time."

"If destroying me is the only way you can find peace, I won't stop you." She fought off a wierd pang of deja vu at what she was saying. "There are times I wished I could've loved you, Louis--but I couldn't. I can't. I love Egon, and I always have...even when I didn't want to." she looked at the ensnared physicist, her eyes beginning to water " And if you'll just let him go, you can do whatever you want with me."

Louis looked conflicted. "I..."

"Look, Louis...Buddy..." Venkman holstered his thrower (but didn't remove his pack). "The lady's being honest here, couldn't you be a little more honest in return?"

"What...what do you mean?"

Venkman went over to Lana. "You say this is your dream child, right? The one you always wanted to have with Janine?"

Louis replied with a tinge of impatience. "Yeah..."

"Then howcome she doesn't look a thing like Janine?"

Everyone else--Louis included--did a double take.

"What...what do you mean?" Louis finally asked.

"Lana reminds me of someone else I know..." Venkman replied, pulling his wallet out of his pants. "It's strange, but despite the different eye color she reminds me some of my daughter Jessica..." he explained pulling a photo out of both Jessica Venkman and her mother.

"Lana isn't Janine's child in your dreams, Louis." Venkman continued. "Even her name hints at the truth, doesn't it? 'L'..as in 'Louis'...'--ana' from..."

"Dana..." Louis said, once again a tone of forlorn in his voice.

"She was worried about you, Big Guy..." Venkman said, actually going close enough to the hulking form to lay a hand on his arm. "She cut me a new one when I told her about the fit I threw earlier. And she was right. I'm sorry too--I got mad over something I shouldn't have...and I hope you'll forgive me."

"I hope...you can forgive me, too, Louis.' Janine said.

"Forgive? Even after...I..." Louis's eyes filled with tears. "What have I done? I'm so sorry..."

Then the transmogrified Louis emitted a burbling cry, and crashed to the ground.

Lana Tully emitted a plaintive wail of "Daaaaaaaaaddy..." and faded into nothingness.

* * *

Vincent Belmont inhaled, about ready to try again to breach the barrier.

Garrett grimaced as he put the last fresh proton core he had into his blaster.

Vincent perked up, suddenly, and held up his hand, motioning for Garrett to not open fire. He looked around intensely, scanning the entire volume of the room.

Then the barrier disappeared.

"Gosh. I'm good." Garrett said brightly.

"The malignance is dispersing..." Belmont announced.

"Well, sure it is. They realized they were dealing with the MAN." Garrett smiled, and punched Vincent's arm playfully

* * *

Ray, Winston, and the rest of "Team Extreme" ran up the final flight of stairs to find a much more auspicious sight than they were expecting.

Janine and Egon were in a firm embrace

Venkman was helping a now normally-proportioned Louis Tully extract himself from the massive pile of ectoplasm generated by the disintigration of his Hulk-like new look...

"Is everyone all right?" Ray asked, excitedly.

Venkman nodded. "Yeah, but I think GBI's accountant is going to need a bath...I feel for you, though--I spent every day for like eight years getting slimed..."

Louis looked at him with confusion. "You mean I still have a job?"

"I don't see why not." Venkman replied. "Er, Ray...could you take care of.." he pointed at the purple gem on the floor.

"Huh? Yeah, right..." Ray nodded, pulling out a sample jar to scoop up the gloom gem. "I guess these will have to go into the same fridge we keep the mood slime in..."

"I just wonder where these things came from." Winston remarked. "We never did find the bum who sold them..."

Louis looked around. If for only a moment, he felt...like he belonged there. Peter Venkman still wanted him around, even after Louis had effectively admitted he still loved Peter's wife.

And he cast a look at Janine, now doting over her fiance. _They do really belong together, don't they?_

I'm just sorry I didn't realize it sooner...that I was lying too. To you and to myself. I can't be angry at you for spending four years wishing I was Egon Spengler when I spent them wishing you were Dana Barrett...

* * *

Outside the Shandor Building, a man dressed like a smelly bum looked on as the tendrils of violet energy faded.

The look on his face showed his displeasure. _He failed..._ he remarked to himself ruefully as he walked into an empty alley. _I knew it was a risk ensnarinig one so stupid with the Shard of Gloom...but this failure is more dismal than I had ever anticipated._

He pulled back the left sleeve of his dirty coat to reveal a high-tech arm-band. "Initiate transit to Null Zero." He said, his voice colder and more menacing than it had been addressing Louis Tully earlier that day.

A shimmering doorway appeared, and he stepped through...

On the other side was a bright, clean, all but featureless room. The bum began to peel off the tattered, dirty clothing...

...Josiah Nodus threw the rags into a hole in the wall, the devices there breaking them back down into raw matter until he needed them again.

He put on a clean set of clothes, though not the business suit he'd worn for every public appearance. Not the black trenchcoat he'd worn when confronting Sarim-Lar or the Zodiac Lords. A simple, if elegant and slightly anachronistic looking shirt and breeches.

There was a conspicuously human grunt of displeasure as he sat in the ornate chair that appeared with but an exertion of will.

He waved his hand, and one of the featureless walls opened, revealing a device resembling a high tech fish tank. There was no water in the tank, just a few sparkles of orange energy.

_Six years...and this shard of the Gemini force has yet to yield it's secret to me_

_After six years, the Ghostbusters have returned...and my gambit with Tully and the shard of Anthal-Noge has failed. Failed. Instead of driving Spengler down the path destined him, it has driven him deeper into the grips of debased humanity..._

He realized, despite his periodic declarations of having evolved far beyond his own human animal, that he was furious.

And worse...

The fury did not bother him...

* * *

** Epilog  
Two Days Later **

* * *

"You..wanted to see us, Professor?" Kylie asked hesitantly as she opened the door.

"Ah, Kylie...Vincent...sit down." Egon said, tone steady, not betraying any hint as to what he was thinking. He was facing away from them, and they heard the clicking of computer keys.

"Look, Sir..." Vincent said as he sat. "If it's about my argument with Roland, I assure you the matter is closed. He was here first--he's Field Leader unless you or one of the other senior Ghostbusters around. I have no problem with that."

"I'm glad to hear that, Vincent, but that's not why I asked you here." he wheeled around in the swivel chair to face the two at last. "I'm more concerned about the connection between you and Kylie."

"Connection?" Vincent asked, a little confused.

"Egon..." Kylie said, a little defensive. "There's nothing...going on, if that's what you're saying. And...y'know, even if there was, it really wouldn't be your business..."

Egon cocked an eyebrow. "I'm the last person in the world to try and dissuade two Ghostbusters from pursuing a romance. But I don't think that is what's happening here."

"Sir..." Vincent said, mouth slightly dry. "I have to be clear: Miss Griffin is a fine woman, but...I'm already seeing someone."

Kylie looked a little shocked. "What?"

"That woman we encountered on the Mitocondria Eve case...Aya Brea." Vincent explained. "We...well..."

Egon held up his hand. "As Miss Griffin said, your personal life is your own business. And it doesn't change my concern much at all...I'm simply trying to make you two aware that, no matter what happens or doesn't between you, _you_ two do indeed share a connection."

"You said that already...so if you don't think we're...y'know...then what do you mean?" Kylie asked. She hated to admit it, but she was finding Vincent's revelation just a tad annoying.

"This." Egon said, selecting a window on his computer monitor. "I think this is something you need to see..."

_ GBI Case File GBNY-1991-9/280 ("The Zodiac Imperative")  
Subject: The Zodiac Avatars  
Identification: Class VII entities posessing human hosts  
PKE Reading: Uncertain; equipment unable to accurately read_

On Summer Solstice 1991, a circle of powerful beings calling themselves the "Zodiac Lords" appeared at Stonehenge, and then posessed twelve humans as part of their "Imperative"

Click here for full Case File

Of the twelve, five have been postively identified.

"Lord Aries" Victor Irwin, born 3-26-79, Brooklyn, New York. He is the nephew of GBNY staff member Janine Melnitz

"Lord Gemini" Shannon Phillips, born June (?) 1976. See Case File GBNY-1989-7/109 "The Father Thing Trilogy" for more information.

"Lord Scorpio" Vincent Abraham Belmont Born 10-31-74. Identity confirmed in 1996, during personal interview between Dr. Belmont and E. Spengler. See GBNY employment file for more information

"Lady Aquarius" Kylie Griffin, born 2-12-79 in New York. May have been the first one posessed, due to tropical astrological references to beginning of "Age of Aquarius". GBNY was contacted by Ms. Rose Lockyer, the subject's great grandmother. (Identity confirmed shortly after by phone interview with Ms. Lockyer)

"Lady Pisces" Lillian Peacecraft, born redacted See GBNY-1991-9/271 ("Shadow Of The Inquisitors") for more information.

RFS:jm (7/91) revised 12/97 ES 

Kylie was shocked. "Wha? What kind of joke is this? I don't remember any of this at all..."

"I know you don't." Egon nodded. "We know Victor and Shannon, and interviewed them after the incident--they, like you, have no memory of the event. The only one thus far has been Vincent--he'd mentioned some disjointed memories when he first contacted me by mail, and I went through the case files and realized it was the same person."

"Why does he have memories, then, and the rest of us don't?" Kylie asked.

"It might have to do with Vincent's own mystic potential..." Egon explained. "And his family--a certain...propensity for dealing with the supernatural exists in the Belmont family history. It might have left him with a unique...resistance to the avatar."

"Or it could have been my faith, Professor." Vincent added.

Egon looked at Kylie as he continued, looking vaguely embarrassed. "I admit I didn't realize you were also connected to that incident until Vincent made that comment about 'already knowing' your astrological sign. I checked the file, and sure enough your name and that of your great grandmother were right there."

"That is the reason for the...tension between you." Egon summarized. "I think, on some instinctive level, even though Kylie has no conscious memory of the incident, you two recognized each other. You had both been posessed by entities connected to each other, and some echo of that connection still resonates."

"So what does it mean, then?" Vincent finally asked.

"It may mean nothing." Egon replied. "Or whatever you want it to."

* * *

" 'Whatever you want it to'..." Kylie repeated as she and Vincent left Egon's lab. "At least it doesn't mean we're 'fated to be together' or some crap like that...I hate the thought of my life being set in stone like that."

"I apologize if the mere thought of me is so vile..."Vincent replied.

"That's not what I mean and you know it. Besides...like you said, you got a girl already..."

"True...but think about what it would've meant if Egon had said it did mean we should, er. 'be together'...for just one thing. The look on Mister Rivera's face when we told him." Vincent grinned.

Kylie smirked slightly back. "That would be funny...but I think after the last few days the _last_ thing this place needs is any more jealousy and miscommunication."

Vincent chuckled. "With that, Miss Griffin, I most heartily agree..."

* * *

Vincent Belmont and Gabriel Angelo Martin are characters from Ghostbusters Arcane Division; thanks to Vincent Belmont for allowing me to use them. Some references are made to Dr. Belmont's story "Mito Conundrum", available at

* * *

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